Both teams had their share of dominant wins, but ultimately it was the Golden Cougars coming away with the 46-21 victory.

“We like to wrestle Pennsylvania teams,” stated Falconer/Cassadaga Valley head coach Drew Wilcox. “They’re tough kids, they have good teams and that’s what we need as you saw in a few spots tonight, we’re not tough enough. Wrestling those kids can only make you better.”

Without the Golden Cougars three forfeit victories, the score would have been 28-21, making the closest contests that much more important.

One of Falconer/Cassadaga Valley’s biggest wins was by Thi Quelle VanGuilder at 285 pounds. VanGuilder was trailing Eisenhower’s Michael Vanatta 1-0 headed into the third period and managed a late escape after securing a penalty point to take the hard-fought 2-1 victory.

Falconer/Cassadaga Valley’s Dalton Caldwell pins Eisenhower’s Bryceton Wilkins during the 172-pound match Tuesday in Falconer. P-J photo by Christian Storms

“I’m super proud of Thi at 285,” Wilcox said. “He just keeps working every single day, he started the year as the third string guy that never wrestled before. Six weeks later he is the starter and he’s winning a lot more than he’s losing.”

While Thi stole three points for the Golden Cougars in the third period, two matches later, Griffin Williams stole six points for the Knights when he secured a third period pin over Karsen Lundgren at 110 pounds. Williams found himself down 12-5, but that did not stop him from continuing to battle back as he managed to get the pin at 4:58 to regain an 18-15 lead for Eisenhower at the time.

“You’ve got to wrestle more than one period sometimes,” Wilcox added. “You have got to wrestle all six minutes and sometimes our guys forget that and make mistakes and end up getting pinned.”

Despite the shocking turnaround, the Golden Cougars were able to get back on track with three big wins in a row as Hunter Paulisick scored a major decision 14-0 at 126 pounds, Riley Best picked up a pin at 132 pounds and Austin Chase won a pin at 145 pounds.

Jacob Clark looked to keep the hot streak going at 152 pounds, but Eisenhower’s Cameron Jakubczak made sure it wouldn’t be easy. Clark led Jakubczak 10-0 through two periods, but in the third period Jakubczak secured a huge a near fall for three points as Clark somehow managed to keep both his shoulders off the mat for a 10-3 decision.

“Don’t quit,” Eisenhower head coach Jared Lindell said about his team’s mentality. “Just keep fighting, keep wrestling and stay in the match you know good things can happen.”

The contest ended back and forth with an Eisenhower victory following a Falconer/Cassadaga Valley win as the Knights’ Tucker Lindell edged Brodie Little at 160 pounds for a 4-2 decision.

While the Golden Cougars’ dominant victories came in the middle of the match, Eisenhower’s best wins were its first two. Following an opening match pin by Falconer/Cassadaga Valley’s Dalton Caldwell at 172 pounds, both Benji Bauer and Brok English secured pins for the Knights at 189 and 215 pounds, respectively.

“I’m really proud of them keeping the fight,” Lindell said about his team. “We come up here to wrestle a good team. If you want to get better, you wrestle quality guys and we’re just happy to come up here and hang with them.”

172: Dalton Caldwell (F/CV) p. Bryceton Wilkins, 2:23

189: Benji Bauer (E) p. Hunter Caldwell, 1:14

215: Brok English (E) p. Devyn Morrison, 3:03

285: Thi Quelle VanGuilder (F/CV) d. Michael Vanatta, 2-1

102: Dylan Newman (F/CV) won via forfeit

110: Griffin Williams (E) p. Karsen Lundgren, 4:58

118: Gabe Lundmark (F/CV) won via forfeit

126: Hunter Paulisick (F/CV) md. Ryan Chambers, 14-0

132: Riley Best (F/CV) p. Kamden Ferrand, 3:06

138: Patrick Braley (F/CV) won via forfeit

145: Austin Chase (F/CV) p. Derek Childs, 1:02

152: Jacob Clark (F/CV) d. Cameron Jakubczak, 10-3

160: Tucker Lindell (E) d. Brodie Little, 4-2